In Tom and Jerry, originally known as Puss Gets the Boot, dialogue is replaced with music interludes. The music is written before the animation is created; therefore, animation depends greatly on it.  Although there was hardly any dialogue in Tom and Jerry, it did not fail to captivate viewers’ attentions when Tom aimlessly attempts to capture the ingenious Jerry.

On this day, February 10, in 1940, the cartoon about a cat-and-mouse rivalry, Tom and Jerry, debuts at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) cartoon studio in Hollywood. The show lasted until 1957 because MGM believed that there were already enough cat-and-mouse productions.  When MGM gave up hope on the cartoon William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of Tom and Jerry, continued to work on the show, and it was nominated for a number of Academy Awards. The cartoon also became MGM’s most popular animation.

In 1957, MGM closed their animation studio after they discovered that recycled cartoons made just as much money as the new cartoons. MGM studios released the last 114 short episodes of Tom and Jerry on Aug. 1, 1958. As a result, Hanna and Barbera started their own studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions, and produced many famous films and TV-shows such as Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, The Jetsons, etc.